Policeman mistaken for armed robber; shot and killed by patrol team

A police patrol team on Sunday dawn allegedly shot and killed a police officer who was escorting an ‘OA’ passenger bus to the Northern region.

Identified as Lance Corporal Robert Kumi Ackah of the Tamale Rapid Deployment Force, he was said to have been mistaken to be an armed robber by his colleagues and killed near Dawadawa, on the Buipe-Kintampo stretch of the highway.

The OA bus, with registration number GE 6402-14, he was escorting was heading towards the north and encountered armed robbers on the road between Buipe and Kintampo.

Bus driver’s narration

According to the bus driver, Eric Lawson who narrated the incident on Accra based radio station, Okay FM, when they got to the spot, they were told some armed men had blocked the road between Kawampe and Gulumpe, and they saw a number of vehicles had parked.

He said Lance Corporal Ackah, who was armed with an AK 47 but was in mufti went out of the bus and fired warning shots. When he saw the robbers fleeing, he asked the bus driver to do a u-turn and move towards safety until reinforcement arrived.

Whilst moving, a police patrol team was said to have arrived and so the escorting officer asked the driver to do another turn and follow the patrol vehicle closely.

When they got to the robbery scene, where the road had been blocked, the escorting officer went out of the bus and moved towards the patrol vehicle, but according to the driver, before he got close, the patrol vehicle moved ahead and so Lance Corporal Ackah waited at where the road block was and fired warning shots.

The patrol officers then turned and on reaching the scene, they were said to have fired at their colleague.

Police version

Meanwhile according to the police, the patrol team, which had responded to a distress call on the Kintampo-Buipe highway, gunned down Lance Corporal Ackah because of mistaken identity.

Police preliminary investigations revealed that at about 2.30am, a patrol team on Kintampo – Buipe highway had information that some armed men had blocked the road between Kawampe and Gulumpe.

The team proceeded to the scene and saw about 20 cars parked alongside the road, according to a police SITREP [situational report], seen by the Daily Graphic.

They were said to have maneuverer to the scene where the armed robbers and the robbers reportedly opened fire on the patrol team.

The team also returned fire immediately and bypassed the scene to a distance and turned back to the scene.

At the scene, they spotted someone in mufti with a riffle standing in the mist of the passengers who were lying down.

The patrol team were said to have mistakenly took him to be a robber and shot him in the thigh, the SITREP said.

After some minutes, the O. A. driver by name Eric Lawson with registration number GE 6402-14 approached the patrol team and informed them that they heard of the robbery and parked at a distance but their police escort proceeded to the scene of the robbery and identified the escort who was mistakenly shot by the team as their escort they are moving with.

Injured

The policeman and three others namely, 8-year-old Cynthia Ayaab, Kwabena Sarfo, 44 and Gurusom Bashiru, 28 were sent to Kintampo Hospital but the policeman died on arrival.

The body has been deposited at the hospital morgue whilst the injured are receiving treatment.

The Police further combed the area to find out if anybody had been wounded or shot dead but to no avail.

The police said 11 empty AA cartridges were found at the scene, one AK riffle with the number 172194 and 34 ammunitions were also retrieved.